Missouri Uniform Securities Act, The

Despite the spectacular events of recent years in the field of federal securities law, the less glamorous arena of state securities regulation—better known as blue sky law —continues to play an important and regular role in the securities lawyer\u27s practice. The new Missouri Uniform Securities Act must therefore be carefully considered and analyzed by Missouri attorneys. It is the purpose of this article to assist in such consideration and analysis. The adoption of the new Missouri Act is particularly significant for two reasons. First, in displacing the prior Missouri statutes, the new Act provides a modern, comprehensive, and well-drafted statute which represents a major improvement in the quality and adequacy of the Missouri law. Second, the new Missouri Act, being based on the Uniform Securities Act, makes an important addition to the growing number of states which have adopted the Uniform Act and thus aids in the realization of the basic policies which prompted the promulgation of that act. It is therefore appropriate initially to place the new Missouri Act in historical perspective-both with respect to the history of Missouri securities acts and with respect to the history of the Uniform Securities Act and state securities regulation generally. It is then necessary to consider in detail the provisions of the new Act with respect to content and purpose and to compare them with the corresponding portions of the Uniform Act. Finally, the underlying policies and purposes of the Uniform Act and of the Missouri Act should be reviewed and the provisions of the new Act analyzed. Although the adoption of the new Act represents a substantial advance in Missouri securities law as well as an increase in the number of states that have adopted the Uniform Act, certain deviations in the Missouri Act from the provisions of the Uniform Act raise serious questions of policy